The Louisville Baseball team has been on a homestand for the past few weeks that comes to an end Tuesday night as the Cards host Morehead State before ACC play begins this weekend. During the weekend series against Western Michigan, Louisville looked like the preseason #1 team we were all expecting, outscoring the Broncos 29-3 and recording 31 strikeouts in 27 innings. Of the three runs surrendered by the pitching staff, only two of them were earned. More importantly, the bullpen showed a significant improvement this weekend, tossing 8.1 innings without allowing a single hit or run during the series sweep. I’ve been saying this all season, but when you have a bullpen loaded with freshman arms, it just takes time to adjust to the college game and it appears we are hitting that stride just in time for ACC play.
Morehead State (RPI: 191)
The Eagles come to Jim Patterson Stadium on Tuesday with a record of 4-6, with four of their losses coming against Michigan State to begin the season. The coach of the Eagles, Mik Aoki, may ring a bell as he served as the head coach at Notre Dame for the last 9 seasons prior to taking over at Morehead State this year. Ironically, the longest active winning streak against one opponent for the Cards is 19 straight, against both Morehead and Notre Dame.
In years past, Louisville and Morehead have put up some serious crooked numbers on the scoreboard. I don’t know if this Morehead team has the ability to do so against Louisville, but I anticipate the Cards offense to keep rolling against an Eagles pitching staff that boasts a 7.64 ERA and has an opponents batting average of .344. These are just brutal numbers going into a team like Louisville that is swinging a hot bat.
Game Info
Location: Jim Patterson Stadium (Capacity:4,000)
Date/Time: Tuesday, March 3 at 3:00pm
TV: ACCNX
Radio: 1450AM
Promotion: T-Shirt Tuesday
Wake Forest (RPI: 188)
The Demon Deacons have been all over the place in this young season, even spending some time in the Top 25. The Deacs beat Illinois on opening weekend but followed that by getting swept by Long Beach State by a total of 19-5 over the three-game span. Against inferior opponents, they have been on a tear, cranking out 11 home runs in their past four games as they faced La Salle, Brown, and Sacred Heart. They currently have a 7-5 record but face Sacred Heart again Tuesday night.
Wake Forest does have a lot of pop and Louisville better not take them lightly. They return seven starters from a team that led the ACC in scoring last year with 7.8 runs. Of the seven returners, three of them were preseason All-Americans, including reigning ACC Player of the year Bobby Seymour. This offense is really going to test our freshman arms that better be prepared to throw strikes or it’s going to be a long weekend. Over the past few weeks, they have been forced to grow up quickly and have shown signs of improvement, but this will be a significant step up in competition on the road in the ACC.
Keys to Win the Series at Wake Forest
- Starting pitching must go deep into the game. I trust our middle relievers much more now than I did a few weeks ago, but if we can minimalize the middle innings before we get to Michael Kirian, the less pressure for the freshmen.
- The freshman pitchers must step up. Reality is, we can’t win without them. Time to show why they were so highly ranked.
- Be aggressive on the base paths. In 12 games, Wake has allowed 10 stolen bases on 15 attempts. Louisville knows they have to score runs against a Wake offense that can score in bunches so I can assure you that Coach Mac will run early and often to get runners in scoring position.
- Cut down on errors. The Cards have 12 errors in 11 games, which is very unlike Coach Mac’s teams. In order to win, they must cut down on the mistakes.
Game 1 Info
Location: David F. Couch Ballpark (Capacity 3,823)
Date/Time: Friday, March 6 at 6:00pm
TV: ACCNX
Radio: 93.9 The Ville
Projected Starters: Reid Detmers (2-0, 1.69 ERA) vs. Ryan Cusick (0-1, 3.12 ERA)
Game 2 Info
Location: David F. Couch Ballpark (Capacity 3,823)
Date/Time: Saturday, March 7 at 4:00pm
TV: ACCNX
Radio: 93.9 The Ville
Projected Starters: Bobby Miller (2-0, 2.16 ERA) vs. Jared Shuster (2-1, 4.74 ERA)
Game 3 Info
Location: David F. Couch Ballpark (Capacity 3,823)
Date/Time: Sunday, March 8 at 1:00pm
TV: ACCNX
Radio: 93.9 The Ville
Projected Starters: Luke Smith (2-0, 3.12 ERA) vs. William Fleming (2-1, 3.38 ERA)
Other Notes
- Lucas Dunn appeared in both Saturday and Sunday’s games for the first time this season. I anticipate we will see quite a bit more out of him this weekend, which is much needed as we haven’t seen much production from the other middle infield position this year.
- Ben Metzinger is on fire and I’m going to keep talking about it until he gives me a reason to stop. Over the past 10 days, he is batting .522 with a six-game hitting streak. It’s going to be challenging to keep him out of the lineup when the Cards are back to full strength. I imagine Coach McDonnell will find a place for him at third, catcher, or DH if he keeps this up.
- Michael Kirian is tied for the national lead in saves with five.
- Reid Detmers is averaging 18.56 strikeouts per nine innings right now. Wow. Just wow.
- Alex Binelas and Lucas Dunn both suffered the same injury, a hamate fracture, and Binelas was about ten days after Dunn. That being said, I think we will see Binleas return around the Notre Dame series. Although it wouldn’t surprise me to see him pinch-hit or play a few innings against Chicago State next week to see how he feels. During hamate surgery, they remove the bone so it doesn’t necessarily need to heal internally, they are just waiting for the incision to heal.
You can follow me on Twitter @sefco21 for live updates during games and for all of your Louisville Baseball info!
